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Hello reader,
As much as the tech and startup scene is statistics- and data-driven, there are some things that should never be judged by numbers alone. Sometimes, you have to put your ear to the ground and just listen to what people are saying.
The journeys of Southeast Asia’s female entrepreneurs is one such case.
As part of our 2022 International Women’s Day campaign, Tech in Asia decided to explore the experiences of the region’s female founders by conducting a qualitative survey and finding out about all they’ve been through via first-hand anecdotes. You can read all of these snippets in today’s featured premium article.
Shout out to my fellow Studios writer Stefanie for her hard work on this important and meaningful project 🙌.
Today we look at:
- The story of female entrepreneurs, as told by the protagonists
- The seed funding of a Japanese spacetech startup
- Other newsy highlights such as Tessa Wijaya’s journey to becoming the first female co-founder of an Indonesian unicorn, as well as a bumper crop of NFT and blockchain news
Premium summary
What it means to be a woman in the Southeast Asian tech and startup ecosystem
Image credit: Tech in Asia
For better or worse, being a female founder or entrepreneur brings with it some unique experiences. And there’s no better way to learn about these experiences than from the women themselves.
- Making a mark: In our survey of female entrepreneurs in the region, five key themes emerged around the best part of being a founder: innovation, freedom, impact, inspiration, and passion. A majority of our respondents cited how satisfying it was to innovate and create, while some expressed how much they enjoyed the freedom that comes with being an entrepreneur.
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Hurdles: Broadly speaking, the most common stumbling blocks for participants were talent, leadership, bias and doubt, and funding.
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A woman’s touch: Over 77% of respondents felt that being female has made a difference in their entrepreneurial journeys. They regard it as a positive element, particularly crediting how women can tap into empathy to produce results and propel their companies to success.
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